News

Federal officials recommend full funding for BART extension to San Jose

By Gary Richards grichards@mercurynews.com

Posted:
01/09/2012 05:52:14 PM PST

Updated:
01/10/2012 09:37:22 AM PST

The deal to extend BART to the South Bay is finally clearing its last major hurdle after a six-decade struggle.

On Tuesday the U.S. Department of Transportation will recommend to Congress that more than $900 million in federal aid be set aside for BART over the next decade -- the entire amount sought by local transportation officials for the $2.3 billion extension from Fremont to San Jose.

Congress has 60 days to review the recommendation, but officials say that is a mere formality. Federal money would be parceled out over several years, with $130 million earmarked in the budget President Barack Obama sent to Congress for the next fiscal year.

Honda called Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood before Christmas pressing him to make the recommendation this week. Once final documents are signed, the Valley Transportation Authority can prepare to collect a one-eighth-cent sales tax beginning July 1 that will be set aside to cover the costs of running trains in the South Bay. Voters approved that tax by a two-thirds majority in 2008.

The BART line could open in 2016, or two years earlier than first projected. Work is already under way with the rebuilding of Kato Road on the Fremont-Milpitas border.

Construction will take off in the summer, when utility lines are relocated and buildings razed around future stations in Milpitas near the Great Mall and east of Highway 101 off Berryessa.

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Work on the line from Fremont to Santa Clara County has been under way and should be completed in two more years.

The Department of Transportation's recommendation culminates a remarkable turnaround for a transit project that federal officials once viewed as too expensive and said should not be funded, even though voters approved a 30-year, half-cent sales tax in 2000 for the work.

The federal government's "not recommended" rating in 2004 said the estimated $4 billion-plus to build tracks underground through downtown San Jose and into Santa Clara was too costly, especially with no money set aside for operations and maintenance. Transportation officials wanted the line shortened and costs lowered.

At first, VTA and local officials balked at any thought of shortening the extension. But reality set in as they realized that the full line would not get federal approval. Four years ago, the VTA agreed to build only to the Berryessa area of San Jose, leaving open the option of extending tracks to Santa Clara at some point in the future.

Then, in 2008, the one-eighth-cent sales tax for operating costs won voter approval.

The BART extension also is in line for $760 million in state aid promised by former Gov. Gray Davis more than a decade ago. It was his pledge that kick-started the effort, as it marked the first time that money had been set aside for it.

Santa Clara County began its pursuit of BART during the Eisenhower administration, envisioning a line that would run along the Peninsula. But those hopes ended when San Mateo County decided not to join BART.

Over time, as BART expanded in the East Bay and cities such as Tracy, Livermore and Concord became home to thousands of Silicon Valley workers, attention turned to an extension through Alameda County.

For years, local politicians and congressional representatives, including Honda, Rep. Zoe Lofgren, San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed, VTA General Manager Michael Burns and Silicon Valley Leadership Group CEO Carl Guardino, have held numerous meetings with federal officials in Washington to lobby for the project.

Honda said another key moment may have come in October when Transportation Undersecretary Roy Kienitz visited the South Bay and took a walking tour of the proposed line at Honda's urging. Kienitz reported back to LaHood and Obama, and local backers became convinced that BART would gain Washington's approval.

"We got boots on the ground," Honda said, adding that transportation officials noted that the bulk of funding would be covered by the county and state. Nationwide, most transit efforts seek as much as 80 percent from Washington.

"We turned that 80 percent on its head," Honda said. "I just had the sense that we would get there. We had some problems politically, but we just kept pushing."